Phoenix Cinema Celebrates Black Actors With Season of Films

As part of the British Film Institute’s Black Star season, Leicester’s Pheonix cinema will screen four classic films starring iconic actors throughout December.

Nothing but a Man, Carmen Jones, The Proud Valley and the Oscar-nominated Boyz N The Hood give you a wide range of genres and different decades to choose from, whilst showcasing some of the finest film performances by black actors.

The celebration opens with the Oscar-nominated Boyz N The Hood (Saturday 3 December and Sunday 4 December), re-released for the Black Star season, and featuring career defining performances from Laurence Fishburne, Cuba Gooding Jr and Ice Cube.

For one night only on Wednesday 7 December, Phoenix screens the seminal Carmen Jones, which features an all-black cast and garnered an Oscar-nomination for Dorothy Dandridge, the first ever for an African American actress in a lead role.

Nothing but a Man, hailed as ‘one of the most sensitive films about black life ever made in this county’ by the Washington Post, depicts the harsh realities of the post-segregation American South, and centres on a terrific performance from Ivan Dixon. The film screens for one night only on Tuesday 20th December.

From the American South to pre-WWII Wales, The Proud Valley tells the story of an African-American drifter who begins to win over the respect of a Welsh mining town through his singing. Starring legendary singer, actor and activist Paul Robeson, The Proud Valley stands as a touching story of friendship and kinship across race and national borders, and was praised by Robeson as the favourite of all his films.

Tickets and further information are available at phoenix.org.uk and the Phoenix box office.

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